It just has to be said (vent)...

[Music in My Heart]

Something is just brewing inside of me that needs to come out...

This primarily an emotional response but there's some logic and reason that gird it...

Try as I might, I just can't help myself...

Flat out, I...

umm...

OK, here it is... I...

really like

my job...

and I almost consider it a privilege to work there (though I'm an unabashed capitalist and unionist).

The patients...

Some of my patients truly touch me... and I feel tinges of what the "it's a calling" crowd must be referring.

Some of the patients are trying... but even many of them are an adventure...

And some of the patients are complete jerks... and mostly I just blow them off and pat myself on the back for not letting them win the emotional tug-of-war in which they insist on engaging.

I had a patient on whom a colleague asked me to start an IV... she was being confrontational. I'm always up for a good confrontation so I took the bait. At one point she said, "Your bedside manner sucks." I replied, "Yep, it does... but I'm really, really good at this so you need to decide if you want a 'one-and-done' IV stick by me or repeated pokes by Nancy-NiceNurse." She picked me and we ultimately found a functional way to interact.

My coworkers...

Most of them are kind and decent people who've got my back. It's almost like being in the military again.

A (minute) few of them are catty and, um, doggie, but I actually enjoy engaging them and trying to win them over. Since I refuse to be respect someone's attempt to block me out and push me away... and because I continue to go out of my way to be helpful, we generally end up in pretty decent working relationship.

The docs

Oh yes, the physicians... they can be a pretty pushy, demanding, demeaning group of people..... whom I refuse to treat, or address, any differently than I do anybody else.

However, nearly all of the ED docs, are really great to work with... love to teach... will happily engage if engaged... and recognize how much the patients need the nurses in order for anything to get done.

Medical residents? I find them to be some of the most interesting people I've ever been around and I would hate to work someplace without them. (They also don't get ***** when I call them... and if they do, they're ~just~ residents :-)

Even some of the attending MDs with ferocious reputations among the staff, have their way about them, and I enjoy figuring out how to connect. Sometimes it's by learning a lesson from doggie dominance... wherein I basically expose my throat and give them the option to rip it out... from then on, we usually get on fine... and I take barbs really well and can turn almost everything into a joke.

Management...

Well, I've got my gripes, to be sure... but having been a senior manager with direct reports and budgetary authority... I also recognize that (a) I probably *couldn't* do it any better and (b) that I wouldn't want to even if I could.

I've had a lot of bosses in my life and I can easily say that the food chain where I currently work is populated by a pretty good group of folks, especially by comparison to some that I've work for.

Money...

Could I earn more? Sure. Have I earned more? Well, actually not... though I work an insane amount of OT to get it.

Being an hourly, non-exempt employee under a codified contract (I'm a fan of the California Nurses Association) is a great way to work. I've been salaried/exempt... I've been at-will... I've worked as much as I do now but not been paid for it... and I've recently worked in nursing for $25/hr less than I presently earn with scant benefits... Yes, I earn twice what I earn at my last FT nursing job.

I've got a good thing going... and we're not the highest paid nurses in the region... by any means... but we've got very good bennies and a good work environment.

So, for anybody who's looking for a reason to go into nursing, I can say that, if I could magically change and be a doc or a pilot, I would, but nursing can lead to a very good thing... though it's not a given by any means.

To summarize: I am a nurse, I am happy to be a nurse, and... while it's not cool to admit, I hereby confess that I *like* my job.

[Twinmom06, ASN, APN]

I enjoy my job and workplace as well! Its a good feeling, isn't it?

[sneeds]

This is awesome! So happy for you "Sing-song in my heart" You seem to have experienced a time when nurses got to be a nurse. I hope to earn one day what you do. I do share a very common core with you: I love helping the patients and not in a self-serving ego way but a I can go home and be thankful that I got that chance to meet a new person, help them out, make them better and smile. Hope time creates the opportunity for all nurses to be able to experience your experience. I do on some days. I love it too...

[lub dub]

I feel blessed to have my current job. My director & coworkers are awesome!

[LaRoseRN]

Thank you!! I really enjoy my job, my patients, and my coworkers/managers too -- I'm a second career RN, and often tell my preceptees that going into nursing was one of the best (and hardest) decisions I ever made. I had to move far from home to secure my first job out of nursing school, but it was an amazing opportunity on a fantastic unit. Now my friends and family ask when I'm moving back, and I don't know if I want to give up such a great work environment : ) Again, thanks for putting it out there that nursing can be deeply rewarding despite the challenges.

[tareija]

That is really wonderful to hear, and it sounds like you have a great attitude and a great work environment. I try to keep a positive attitude even though I'm one of the people who currently dislikes my job. However, the dislikes are due to some issues at my current workplace. Overall I do love being a nurse and working with patients. I tell people I love my profession, I just dislike my current job. Luckily that can be fixed! Thanks for sharing this and reminding us that it is possible to love your job.

[WordWrangler]

THANK you for posting this at a time when there are so many of us slogging through finals, through the ends of long clinical rotations, and hearing how hard it is going to be to find work. THIS is what I'm looking for and it's up to ME to find it by choosing the right attitude in the face of challenges.

If you and I were closer, we would be friends.

[Lev, MSN, RN, NP]

Awesome! Happy you've found your place :)

[Lossea, BSN, RN]

Thank you! From the title, I thought the post would be about something that upsets you (vent...), and everyone can learn from that as well, but it is particularly nice to hear that you are happy and like your job. Thanks for sharing.

[Guttercat, ASN, RN]

GREAT post.

Once in while, all the stars align.

[workingmama77, BSN]

I also LOVE my job! I am a new nurse and feel very lucky to be able to say I love going to work. The facility & unit are both places I had previously worked before and during nursing school so I feel super comfortable in that environment (acute care/hospice). I really like the people I work with & I love what I'm doing. Feeling very lucky & grateful.

[NickiLaughs, ADN, BSN, RN]

98% of the time I feel the same way, even when I get spit in the face and bust out the 4 points and spit mask. The other 2% (when we are boarding 50 pts in our ER, and are hanging onto a pt to "do an uncessary MRI to be nice" ...well I compensate with wine after work.

[malamud69, BSN, RN]

(though I'm an unabashed capitalist and unionist)....Wow...finally a voice from the positive side that does exist...hard to tell reading these posts from time to time....I must say that I did not think you could be both of those together...although sometimes I wonder as well about myself...Thanks.